Court bars teen from social sites

SYDNEY — A Sydney teenager became the first person in Nova Scotia to be banned by the courts from using social media.

The teen, who was a young offender at the time of his crimes, was ordered in Sydney youth court Thursday to delete any Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts within 24 hours.

The order was put in place for 21 months, during which time the teen must hand over any passwords to a probation officer who will routinely check to ensure the order is adhered to.

The ban includes a provision that disallows the creation of any accounts under a fake name or alias.

“No one’s gotten a full social media prohibition in the province,” said Crown attorney Steve Drake, who sought the Internet ban. “Granted these are difficult to monitor, but so is drinking and driving or unlawful gun storage.”

Drake can recall only one other Canadian social media ban that he said involved a 12-year-old girl from Brandon, Man.,who was ordered to stay off social media sites for a period of 12 months.

While the decision is not binding on other courts across the country, it sets a precedent in dealing with similar cases, Drake said.

He said while the offender is now 18, his identify is banned from publication under with the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 17 at the time of his offences.

Among his crimes are three counts of assault, including assault with a weapon, harassment, sexual assault and property damage.

The offences occurred in Sydney and New Waterford between last September and April of this year.

Most of the offences involved his former girlfriend, with whom he shares a child.

The court heard that he banged his former girlfriend’s head off a floor.

He also sexually assaulted the girl by touching her breasts and vagina despite her pleas for him to stop.

The teen later started shoving hotdogs into the woman’s mouth and ears.

In another incident, the offender held a knife to another male at a local high school and threatened his life.

The court also heard Facebook messages the teen had sent his former girlfriend over Facebook.

“I would appreciate it a lot if you dropped dead or got lost and never came back,” one message read.

Many of the messages the courtroom heard were calls for the former girlfriend to harm herself, with 22 references made to death.

Another 25 references were made to her being a pig, whore or slut.

“He basically, for a two-day period, terrorized her on social media,” said Drake.

This was Drake’s second attempt to ban an offender from accessing social media.

He had requested a similar ban in a 2013 case after a teenager posted to Facebook a video recording of her attack on a schoolmate.

His first request resulted only in a partial ban after the judge ruled the youngster needed social media to keep in contact with family in the United States.

That teen’s social media account was instead ordered to be monitored by a sentencing supervisor.

In accepting the joint sentencing recommendation in Thursday’s case, Judge Jean Whalen asked the man how it might feel if someone had treated his own mother the way he had treated his ex.

“Your behaviour was extremely violent. It was despicable,” Whalen said. “And it was also degrading to girls and women.”

The teenager was ordered to complete a six-month house arrest, followed by 15 months’ probation.

He must abide by a long set of conditions and is banned from possessing firearms for two years.

He was also ordered to stay away from drugs or alcohol and must have no contact with his former girlfriend.